Pavegen Systems developed a technology that allows you to charge your vehicle simply by walking

Pavegen Systems developed a technology that allows you to charge your vehicle simply by walking

Pavegen Systems is the technology company that has developed paving slabs to convert energy from people's footsteps into electrical pow. As an example, some of the tiles were installed on Oxford Street (UK) to show that the footsteps could be used to charge electric cars.

The point is all this stuff is actually energy and it can be used for powering anything varying from cell phone to huge skyscraper.

And while Tesla Motors and some other companies are into solar panels, windmills, and other green energy sources, Pavegen Systems decided to go its own way and develop a technology that allows converting power from your footsteps into electrical power.

Was this attempt successful? Did they attain their goal?

Let's figure it out.

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Power of foots

"Create electricity, just by walking" is an evocative statement, and one which surely warrants some attention in these eco-efficient times when the need to seek alternative energy sources is well understood. Pavegen -- a system for harvesting kinetic energy from foot traffic -- is now being put forward for crowd-funding with the aim of raising enough money to build such tiles.

As the company thinks, power of footsteps is underestimated and as an example Pavegen System Company has installed some of its paving slabs to demonstrate that the footsteps could be used to charge electric vehicles.

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Some history

From as far back as October 2011, Pavegen first demonstrated its technology with a bunch of details.

In gist, Pavegen is a system which converts the kinetic energy of people's footsteps into electricity. It manages this by utilizing tiles built into the floor which, when stepped on, harvest the energy created before storing it in lithium polymer batteries. This can then be used to power white goods, vehicles, building or anything else we want to.

A typical tile is made of recycled polymer, with the top surface made from recycled truck tires. Power is generated when a footfall compresses the slab by about 5 mm (0.2 in). The exact technology is a secret, but PaveGen officials have said it involves the piezoelectric effect and induction by copper coils and magnets. Pavegen says each footfall generates up to 7 watts at 12 volts DC, enough to run an LED street lamp for 30 seconds.

Previous experience

The company has experience under its belt and has permanent installations in some of the U.K. schools, London's West Ham Underground station (was done as a part of the project for the 2012 Olympic Games) Macquarie University in Sydney and finally – Oxford Street.

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Well, it seems that the company knows a thing about it.

Let’s hope that we’ll see such fancy gizmos within future Smart cities and some other places.